Needs and Skunks

Item One: 

Skunks stink so bad. What's their deal? We won't get into where this is coming from....

Item Two:

Jamie: Another Southerner

Dylan: The Beatboxer

If you are an actor/director/playwrite, you have an immediate close and personal relationship to the word 'Objective'. It's the first commandment of acting. The core. The bread and butter if you will. I don't care what method you're learning, or who you're learning it from...you will come across the term 'Objective'.

My loverly friend/scene partner, fellow southerner, Lindsey

What I'm learning is that Objectives are really just the tip of an extremely expansive, complex and multi-faceted iceberg. 

Gaaawgeous New Jersey pal Kristen

Okay, so, here we go; Acting 101: You've got your "Super Objective", which is the need of the character that takes them through the entire play from beginning to end.

Next you have your "Objective", which is a specific need of a character that carries them through an entire SCENE from beginning to end, and ALSO serves to further pursue the Super Objective.

After that, (according to Stella and probably many others), comes the "Action". An 'action' serves the need of a character in a single moment which further caters to the Objective, FURTHER catering to the Super Objective.

Following along alright? This is how my shakespeare teacher put it today in class, and it finally made a whole lot of sense!

The Stunning New Yorker Olivia

Actions are verbs. Specific verbs like: demanding, begging, flirting, worshiping, scolding etc, etc, etc. The list is endless, and it's up to us actors to find just the right actions to describe how we will achieve our need in the moment. 

Just six of the sixteen...waitin' around for class to start!

This is what I'm learning Yo! Day in and day out, here at Stella Adler, we're talking objectives and actions and needs and stakes and all that other fun lingo that we eat, breath, sleep, and dream as thespians. It's a crazy a world.

-Ginny